


Family to the Rescue

by animomma



Series: The Life and Times of Victuuri [23]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Baby, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:07:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23308864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animomma/pseuds/animomma
Summary: Nikolai and Aliya bring their new baby home, and the whole family gets together when Nikolai accidentally asks them all for help.
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Nikolai/Aliya, Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky
Series: The Life and Times of Victuuri [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1166879
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	Family to the Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> If you're here reading this, I'm going to assume that you've read at least some of my other works in this series. This fic relies heavily on them, particularly "To Be a Man," but hopefully it can be enjoyed as a stand-alone too! In case you haven't read anything else in the series, here's a basic run-down: Akilina (Aki) is Victor and Yuuri's oldest child, 7 years older than Nikolai, their son. He married Aliya, who is Yuri and Otabek's only child. This fic is about them bringing home their first (and likely only) son, Ruslan, from the hospital. Aki is married to Mavra, and they have three children, who are 11, 9, and 2 at the time of this fic. Our skating dads are in their 50s and 60s during this fic.

Nikolai hurriedly opened the front door, trying to simultaneously usher his wife inside and keep the baby carrier still so that their son wouldn’t wake up. Aliya smiled as she walked past him into the apartment. Nikolai noted that she was moving much slower than usual, and worriedly shuffled in after her, asking in an anxious whisper, “Aliyen’ka, can I get you anything? Want me to help get your shoes off?”

She chuckled at him. “Kolya, that’s very sweet of you, but I can get my shoes off by myself again. I don’t have that little one in the way anymore.” She gestured towards their sleeping son with a loving look. 

He gingerly set the carrier down, taking a quick peek inside to ensure Ruslan was still asleep. Then he shifted his attention back to his wife. “Well, at least let me help you to bed.” He looked down at her firmly, allowing no room for argument. She’d had a hard labor with Ruslan, and he knew that her body was still exhausted. She seemed to recognize the futility of arguing with him right now, and nodded wearily. Kicking her shoes off, she reached out and held onto his arm, allowing herself to be led down the hallway to their bedroom.

When they had reached the bed, he scooped up her little body, marveling at how light she was again. Not that she had really gained much weight during her pregnancy. Her body had been trained over many years during their skating career, and even though she had retired shortly before becoming pregnant, those years of dedication had kept her in relative shape throughout her pregnancy. In fact, many times over the past months, as she had started to show more and more, Nikolai had looked at her worriedly and thought that she was simply too petite to carry the burden of a child within her. Seeing her happiness when she had held their son for the first time, however, had done a lot to heal that fear within him. The memory of her difficult labor would take a bit longer to fade, he suspected. 

He knew better than to say any of this to her, of course. She would simply scold him and remind him of all their gold medals, using them as proof of her hardiness. And, of course, she would be right, but there wasn’t much that could stop Nikolai from fussing over his wife. 

His worry must have flickered in his eyes as he set her on the bed, for Aliya smiled up at him and smoothed her hand down his cheek reassuringly. “Kolya, I’m fine, really. And Ruslan is here, healthy and strong, which is what really matters.”

He muttered, “Your health matters, too.”

She laughed at him, the prettiest sound in the world. “I just need a little rest, and then Mama will be fine, too.” 

The word electrified Nikolai. She was a mother now, to his child. He felt overwhelmed with emotion, and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “Well, you just lie down here and get a nap, Mama. Papa will take care of the baby while you sleep.”

Shifting to her side, Aliya smiled languidly. “That’s a good idea. Sleep.” Her voice trailed off, and her eyes closed. Nikolai lowered a blanket over her gently, and left the room, closing the door as quietly as he could.

Hurriedly, he rushed back down the hallway to their son. Dropping to his knees in front of the carrier, he looked at Ruslan’s little sleeping face, and felt like he was falling in love with the little boy all over again. His cute little nose was just like his mother’s, along with his impossibly long eyelashes. His wispy brushing of blond hair felt just like the fuzz on a peach, and his fingers practically itched to touch it again. He refrained, though, for fear of waking up the baby. He reached his hands out to unbuckle the harness, then stopped. Maybe he should leave him in the carrier? Or was it better to take him out and put him in his crib? But would he stay asleep for that long? Flustered, Nikolai pulled out his phone and opened his messages. Searching through for his otousan’s name, he typed in a quick message:

Can I get help when you have a minute?

He set the phone down and settled back on his heels, waiting for a reply. Anxiously, he looked at Ruslan’s face again, and felt a bit of the nerves drain out. Who wouldn’t be happy when looking at that sweet little face?

Eventually, he realized that he had been staring at his sleeping son for a long time, and decided he should check to see if his otousan had responded. He picked up his phone to unlock it when he heard a knock at the door. Frowning, he got up. Who on earth would be visiting them when they had just returned from the hospital? Who even knew that they were home?

Cracking open the door, he peered through to see the unmistakable silver hair of his papa. “Nika!” Victor chirped. “We got your message and came over as fast as we could!” 

Nikolai opened the door further and saw his otousan too. Yuuri smiled at his son and held up a bag. “We brought reinforcements,” he added.

“Well, I really just wanted to ask a question, but I won’t say no to help. Come in,” Nikolai said, standing off to the side to allow his parents in. “Oh, but make sure you’re quiet. Aliya is asleep,” he added as they filed in past him.

“Ah, of course. We’ll try to be quiet,” Yuuri said.

Victor cut him off with a repressed squeal. “There’s my little boy! Hello, Rusi!” Dipping down, he touched Ruslan’s toe gently, eyes sparkling with delight.

“Papa, please try to be quiet,” Nikolai admonished, but he secretly was enjoying his papa’s enthusiasm over his son. Really, it was just fun to show off how cute his son was. He shut the door and crouched down on the floor next to his papa. “This is actually what I wanted to ask you about, Otousan,” he said, looking up at Yuuri. “I wasn’t sure if I should try to take him out of the carrier and put him in his crib, or just let him sleep in here.” 

“Ah, I see,” Yuuri replied, bending down next to his family. “Well, it’s really up to you, Nika. Rusi’s so young, it’s hard to tell what his sleeping preferences are right now. How badly do you want him to stay asleep?”

“Pretty badly. Aliya really needs to sleep.”

“Then I would just leave him, since you don’t know if he’ll wake up when he’s moved. There’s no harm in letting him stay in the carrier.”

“But Yuuuuri, I want to hold him,” Victor protested, looking up at his spouse with his best puppy dog eyes.

“Unfortunately, Vitya, that is his father’s decision, not yours. We already had two lovely babies we were able to play with. It’s Nika’s turn to be the father.” Yuuri looked down at his husband, unmoving.

Nikolai chuckled at his sputtering papa as another knock sounded at the door. Thoroughly confused now, Nikolai cracked the door open again and looked outside to see his parents-in-law standing there. Yuri scowled at him as he snapped, “It’s us. Are you going to let us in?”

Holding the door open, Nikolai responded, “Of course, you’re more than welcome to come in. Why are you here, though?”

Otabek nodded amiably at Nikolai as his husband snarled, “What do you mean, soplyak? We came because you asked for help. Where’s Aliya?”

Absently, Nikolai replied, “She’s asleep, so please try to keep it down.” Looking at Otabek, he asked, “What does he mean, asked for help?”

Not taking his eyes off Ruslan, Victor chimed in, “You asked for help in the family chat. That’s why we came over. We figured it must be bad if you were asking everyone for help.”

“What?” Nikolai bent down and scooped up his phone, scrolling through his messages. Sure enough, he had accidentally put the text in the group chat, instead of a direct message to his otousan. He groaned. “I’m sorry, everyone. I was just trying to text Otousan. I really didn’t need all that much, I just wanted to know if I should take Rusi out of his carrier or let him sleep.”

Yuri snorted. “Is that all? You need to be a bit more self-sufficient. This little baby is going to run you around in circles if you let him.”

Otabek broke in to chastise his husband. “Yura, that’s a little harsh. Don’t you remember being a new father? You were so scared that something would happen to Aliya. You checked on her almost every night to make sure she was still breathing until she was three.”

Victor snorted as Yuri glared at his spouse. Yuuri sympathetically patted him on the shoulder. “I did that too,” he muttered quietly, obviously trying to comfort his friend.

Victor chimed in helpfully, “You checked on our kids until they were about four or five, though.”

Yuuri sighed. “Yes, thank you for that helpful distinction, Vitya.”

Yuri broke in. “Well, either way, my point still stands. You don’t need to contact us for every little thing. We can come help when you need us, but eventually you’ll figure this stuff out for yourself. There’s no sense in stressing yourself out this early like something over sleeping in a carrier. Now, since we’re all here, I have a bone to pick with you still, old man.” He directed his attention at Victor, who was cooing gently at the baby. 

Not taking his eyes off of his grandson, Victor replied, “Since you’re a grandpa now, too, why do you think you can still call me old man?”

Yuuri snorted, and the blond man glared at him. Otabek supplied, “You know, he’s right, Yura. You’re hardly in a position to call him old anymore.”

Nikolai worked hard to keep a grin off his face as Yuri sputtered at his husband, “He’ll always be older than me!” He recovered quickly, though, and turned back to his target. “And anyway, since I’m apparently so old now, you should let me be Deda.”

“No way.” The reply was instant and final.

“Why not? You already have three grandkids, and this is my first one. It’s my turn to be Deda now!”

“Hm, that just sounds like more proof that I should still be Deda, since I was Deda first. You’ll be a great Dedushka.” Victor finally looked up at his opponent, his blue eyes sparkling with delight at being able to tease his friend.

“Victor! That’s not fair!” Yuri’s voice was starting to get louder now, and Otabek put a calming hand on his shoulder.

Nikolai was wondering if it was time for him to step in when another knock sounded at the door. He frowned at it. Who else could it be? Except...there was one other family in the group chat. He felt a sense of dread as he walked to the door, one that was confirmed as he got closer and heard the chatter of small, bright voices on the other side. He opened it, revealing his sister and her family. Aki smiled brightly at him, bouncing her daughter, Ulyana, on her hip. Smiling, the two-year-old reached for Nikolai, calling, “Dyadya!” 

Sighing, he reached out and took his niece, settling her into his hold as he opened the door with the other hand. “Come on in,” he said, resigned to the chaos that accompanied his sister. Her younger son, Kazimir, bounded into the apartment, with the oldest, Ilya, following along behind him with all the solemnity that an eleven-year-old could muster. Ilya was serious much like his father, Mavra, and Nikolai often wondered if this was what Mavra had been like as a child. His brother-in-law assured him that Ilya was more serious than he had been, but Nikolai had his doubts. However, having Kazimir and Ulyana as younger siblings lent some merit to the idea that Ilya had developed his maturity as a form of self-defence that Mavra would not have needed as an only child.

Aki swept into the apartment in front of her husband, nearly as energetic as her younger children. “So, Nika, I hear you need your dear oneesan’s help? What can we do for you?”

Yuri snorted as Kazimir darted past him. “You’ll have to get in line, Aki. We all came to help.”

“Wow, everyone’s here! What did you need so badly, Nika?” Aki asked, reaching up to ruffle her brother’s hair.

“Aki, knock it off,” Nikolai protested, ducking away from her. 

“Aww, come on, you know you love it, Nika.” Reaching up, she managed to hook her elbow around the back of Nikolai’s neck, locking her arm as she pulled his head down and rubbed his hair with her knuckles vigorously.

“Hey, Aki, come on! I’m holding Una! Knock it off!”

Yuuri sighed audibly from behind them. “Aki, let go of your brother. Honestly, I thought that by your thirties, you two would have grown out of this. You’re both parents now, what kind of example are you setting for your children?”

Aki promptly replied, “A hilarious one!” Nevertheless, she released her hold on Nikolai. 

He straightened up, trying to use his free hand to fix his hair. Ulyana saw his efforts, and put her small hands on top of her uncle’s head, patting it down unevenly. She said, “Dyadya, fix you hair?”

He smiled at her. “Yes, thank you, you helped fix my hair.” She beamed at him, then squiggled down out of his grasp. She turned her attention to Victor next, flinging herself towards him, screaming, “Deda!”

Victor looked up at Yuri smugly as he caught his little granddaughter. “Una, how’s my little printsesa today?” He skillfully maneuvered her so that she wouldn’t knock into the carrier, and placed her on his lap facing the baby. “Una, I’m glad to see you too, but do you remember your new cousin, Rusi?”

Ulyana made a face at the baby. “Yeah. I ‘amember him. I wanted a girl.”

Victor chuckled. “I know, you wanted a girl cousin to play with. But Rusi will be so much fun to play with, too. But right now, he’s very small, and he needs you to be careful and take care of him. Can you do that?”

Wide-eyed, Ulyana looked up at her deda. “I take care of him?”

Victor nodded at her. “That’s right. You’re the big cousin, so you have to take care of him. That means you have to be careful. No jumping or running around him, ok?”

She looked solemnly at the baby, then back at her deda. She nodded regally. “I big girl. I take care of Rusi.”

Victor squeezed her tightly until she giggled. “Good job, Una. You’ll be a great big cousin!”

Then, seeming bored with the conversation, Ulyana squirmed down from Victor’s lap, running off after Kazimir. Ilya still stood next to his father, seeming uninterested in running around with his siblings.

Nikolai looked at his sister. “Aki, I’m glad you all came over to help, but do you think we could try to keep it down? Aliya’s trying to sleep.”

A voice came from the hallway behind him. “I think I’ve given up on sleep for now.”

Turning around, he saw his wife shuffling down the hallway, a tired smile on her face. Aki spoke up first, “Ah, hey there, Aliya! Sorry, looks like we woke you up. How are you feeling?”

Aliya smiled at her sister-in-law. “Like I pushed out a bowling ball a few days ago. But, considering that, surprisingly good. I just need a bit of rest and I’ll be fine, I think.” She smiled at her parents and in-laws and said, “Hello, everyone. Why are you all clustered by the front door?”

Yuri said, “We all arrived about the same time. Your husband sent a text asking for help in the family chat, so we all came.”

Aliya looked at Nikolai in alarm. “Is everything ok, Kolya?”

“Yeah, it was a mistake. I was just trying to ask Otousan a question so I wouldn’t have to wake you up. That seems to have backfired.”

She looked relieved, then turned back to their family. “Well, since everyone’s here already, why don’t you come in? I’m not going to be able to offer much in the way of hospitality, but we can certainly order something for dinner.”

Yuuri gestured to the bag he had set on the floor. “Actually, if you don’t mind, I brought some stuff to make dinner with. It should be enough for everyone. And there are a couple frozen meals in there for your family, too. I know it’s going to be tough getting any cooking done for a while.” He smiled gently at his daughter-in-law.

Aliya clapped her hands. “Yuuri, that’s so thoughtful, thank you! If you don’t mind, of course we’d love for you to cook for us! I’ll go get everyone something to drink, so please come have a seat.” She started towards the kitchen.

Nikolai moved towards her, protesting, “Aliyen’ka, you really shouldn’t be walking around too much…” a small cry from the carrier cut him off, and he whipped his head down to look at his son. Ruslan’s eyes were open, and he was peering around him, moving his head from side to side. He looked back at his wife, torn.

She chuckled. “Go ahead and get the baby, Kolya. I can handle drinks.”

Yuri cut her off. “You most certainly cannot. I’ll get drinks for people. Beka, can you help her sit?” Authoritatively, he moved towards the kitchen as his husband went to their daughter, offering his arm.

Nikolai bent down next to Victor, turning the carrier a little so he could get at the harness straps more easily. Gingerly, he eased them off of Ruslan’s tiny arms, one at a time. He slid his hands tentatively under his son, picking him up in his hands. Once he had Ruslan out of the carrier, he realized that he couldn’t actually hold the baby with just his hands, and awkwardly switched his head to the crook of one arm, carefully cradling him. Victor watched him with amusement. “I remember when we brought your sister home, I could barely touch her for a week without feeling like I was going to crack her in half. Don’t worry, you’ll be carrying him around like it’s second nature before you know it.”

Nikolai gave his papa a grateful look for understanding what he needed to hear. Standing up cautiously, he looked around for his wife and found her sitting in a plump arm chair. She smiled reassuringly at him, confirming that she had sat down safely. He asked, “Do you want him, lapochka? He’s acting like he’s hungry.”

She nodded. “Yeah, bring him here. And can you grab the blanket off his carrier too?” She held out her arms for her son expectantly. 

Nikolai obeyed as his sister snickered. “Do you need some help with that blanket, lapochka?”

He glared at her. “Shut up, Aki.”

She grinned. “You’ll have to start getting better comebacks than that once Rusi starts talking.”

Mavra sighed as he moved to take a seat in the living room. “I suspect that Nika will just be able to put the boy in time out and that will be the end of it. Unfortunately, he can’t do that to you, so I suppose I’ll have to.”

Aki gaped at her husband as the other adults chuckled. Every once in a while, the quiet Mavra would say something that made his wife shut up, a feat that endeared him to the whole family.

Nikolai, however, was too busy watching Aliya to notice the rare bit of comeuppance his sister was receiving. She was settling in to feed their son, covering him with the blanket as she adjusted here and there. He remembered back to when they had first started dating, when he had proposed, and even when they had gotten married. At each point, he had thought that there was no way he could possibly love her more. But now, watching her feed their newborn son as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he reveled in an entirely new depth of love that he had found for her. She was so beautiful, and strong, and she had given him this incredible new life that was theirs. He hadn’t even known that it was possible to love someone as much as he loved her and Ruslan now. Staring at them, he felt his chest ache with the volume of pure emotion. The strength of his gaze drew Aliya’s attention, and she smiled gently at him, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes as she understood and returned his feelings with her gaze. Kneeling down in front of her, he swiped her eyes with his thumbs, and found himself unable to resist giving her a kiss.

“Nika, do you think you can save that for when we’re gone?” his sister teased, sitting down on the couch next to her husband.

Victor chided, “Aki, leave your brother alone. He just had a baby, of course he’s going to want to dote on his wife a little bit.” He winked at his son.

Nikolai felt himself choking up now as he nodded at his papa. He couldn’t believe that he had ever thought his papa wasn’t a strong man. Victor had so many qualities that Nikolai hoped his son would grow up and inherit. As Yuri trailed into the living room and began distributing drinks to everyone, Nikolai looked around at his assembled family and smiled. Ruslan was lucky to be born into a family with so much love, a family where, as he grew, he would have so many wonderful role models on how to be a man.

**Author's Note:**

> Translation notes (mostly in Russian):  
> otousan: father in Japanese  
> soplyak: snot/jerk. Cute little pet name Yuri has for Nikolai  
> deda: Grandpa. A bit more common/familiar for children to use, hence the fight over it as a grandpa name  
> dedushka: Grandpa. Still pretty relaxed as a term, but not as familiar as deda  
> printsesa: princess  
> dyadya: uncle  
> oneesan: older sister in Japanese  
> lapochka: sweetie/sweetheart
> 
> In Russia, it's pretty common for family members to refer to you by a nickname almost exclusively, hence them all being called different names than the ones I gave them in the story.   
> And for anyone wondering, Yuuri is Ojisan (grandfather in Japanese), and Otabek is Ata (grandpa in Kazakh), so they didn't need to compete for a grandpa name.


End file.
